Gaza ministry says two patients died during Israeli siege on hospital

AFP , Saturday 19 Oct 2024

Gaza's health ministry said two patients at a hospital in the territory's north died during a siege by Israeli forces around the facility on Saturday.

Indonesian Hospital
File Photo: Indonesian Hospital in northern town of Beit Lahia. Photo courtesy of WAFA website.

 

Since dawn, Israeli forces had surrounded and shelled the Indonesian Hospital in the northern town of Beit Lahia, Gaza health officials said.

"Israeli tanks have surrounded the hospital, cut off electricity and shelled the hospital, targeting the second and third floors with artillery," the facility's director Marwan Sultan said.

"There are serious risks to medical staff and patients."

Later on Saturday, the health ministry said two patients in the hospital had died, blaming the Israeli military siege.

It said the military operation caused "the death of two patients inside the Indonesian Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip, as a result of the hospital's siege and the power outage and (lack of) medical supplies".

The ministry accused the Israeli military of imposing a siege on hospitals across northern Gaza since midnight.

'State of great panic'

In an earlier statement, the ministry said Israel had targeted the upper floors of the Indonesian Hospital, adding there were "more than 40 patients and wounded in addition to the medical staff" present.

"Heavy gunfire" towards the hospital and its courtyard had sparked a "state of great panic" among patients and staff, it added.

When asked for a response to the ministry's statements that the two patients had died due to the military siege, the Israeli army told AFP that its troops were "operating near the Indonesian Hospital".

Israeli forces launched a new offensive in northern Gaza earlier this month, claiming it was targeting Hamas fighters who were regrouping there.

Gaza's civil defence agency said an Israeli strike the night before killed 33 people in Jabalia, which is near the Indonesian Hospital.

The UN humanitarian affairs agency on Friday continued "to sound the alarm about the increasingly dire and dangerous situation that civilians in northern Gaza are facing. Families there are trying to survive in atrocious conditions, under heavy bombardment."

Indonesian Hospital was also damaged during Israeli shelling in October 2023, residents told AFP at the time.

Israel has come under strong international criticism for targeting hospitals in Gaza.

*This story was edited by Ahram Online

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